Talk about weekends in Paris! It was our first trip into Europe since we got here and I’ll just summarize it as follows: wicked cool!
I was a little nervous. I was really expecting the French to be rude because my French is not that good (i.e., I can’t speak it to save my life), and the French do have a reputation (not borne out by any of the great French people we know personally, of course) but they were quite friendly, except for this one guy. He was so rude I took his picture but I guess we got the authetic French cafe experience:
I loved remembering my French slowly over the course of the weekend, though. Even last night when I wasn’t sleeping, words from my past kept coming back into my head. The problem with my French is that I am confusing it with the Chinese I tried to learn last year. So I can be heard saying “Wo men voudrons si ge pain du chocolate. Xie xie!” That only worked at the Chinese/French bakery we frequented. Actually, my Chinese lessons were good for me because I have lost my embarrassment at sounding stupid speaking another language. After all, it never bothers me when somebody speaks English very badly: au contraire, mes amis, I’ve always been impressed by people willing to take the risk.
The kids held up very well. All the London walking made walking around in Paris practically effortless, although Madeline complained whenever the pavement wasn’t smooth enough for this:
As you can see, we’re being very discreet and trying to hide the fact that we’re Americans. Not pictured here is Sue filming Madeline with the video camera, screaming “You Go Girl!” at the top of her lungs (just kidding about the screaming part). The Parisians were more amazed than the Londonites with the wheels.
I found the Metro to be a lot nicer than the London underground. Trains were constantly pulling into the stations, they were quieter (rubber, not metal wheels) with wider carriages and not 15 to 20 degrees warmer than the outside temperature. I also like that it’s not a TUBE so that you can imagine getting off the train if it breaks down without being stuck in a tube that’s not big enough for you and the train at the same time (if it suddenly starts working again, ye ken):
(Another one of those Aperture Priority w/flash shots.)
While in Paris we saw a chunk of the normal sites, but really, how long can you expect to stay in the Louvre with two young kids? For us it was 2 hours. It might have been longer if Madeline had been allowed to keep the wheels in her Heelies:
No photos of the Mona Lisa because they’re not allowed, but we took a few pictures on the inside when we were allowed to.
Outside the Louvre was not without its entertainment. We ran into this guy, who was clearly a professional at what he does:
There were lots of people imitating him but nobody came close. He came prepared with a sack of bread hanging around his neck.
There were nice little attractions for the kids in various parks near the famous tourist spots. We checked out the Eiffel Tower on Saturday morning, which was very fun. Nice short lines when we got there in the morning, and a beautiful, warm, sunny day. My insides felt funny and my legs started to wobble on the way up because it was sooooo high up there, but once I got to the top and realized there was no easy way to fall off, I made a complete recovery:
(There’s lots more pictures from there but you get the idea.)
When we left the Eiffel Tower and walked down the long straight away of green grass pictured above, we stopped off at that big traffic circle and ran into this guy running his own little amusement park with a single attraction:
I am having a hard time remember where we were when we ran into the trampolines in the middle of a park. This could never happen in the States for fear of lawsuits. Indeed, while standing there waiting our turn one kid landed on his head and was holding his neck and crying … for a couple of minutes before he started up again. If at first you don’t succeed, keep trying flips until you land on your feet!
We visited Napoleon at L’hopital des Invalides or something like that. Or was it some place else? Argh - you know, this is why we write the blog: so we can remember. Sadly with me I might never have actually known what I need to remember. That’s where Sue comes in.
The last thing I remember about Napoleon was from 11th grade history with Mrs Sirkin. I loved her but I forgot to do the assignment on Napoleon between the time I left the classroom and arrived at the computer center. Therefore, the next class I was completely unprepared to answer the question: How can 300 thousand casualities that Napoleon caused be seen in a positive light? My answer at the time was, “What’s a few hundred thousand casualities between friends?” I wish I were kidding. Therefore, my next book (the one I read) is going to be about Napoleon. I need to know what happened next door a few hundred years ago.
This was the best picture I managed of the stained glass at Notre Dame Cathedral.
If I had a tri-pod these pictures from the top of the Arc D’Triumphe at 9pm would have been spectacular instead of just OK:
This one is during the hourly, 10 minute light show. You can see all the strobe lights that went off during the 1/2 second exposure on this shot. You can also see how much my hands shook during that period as well!
Here you can see how far the light travels around its circle in 1/4 second!
Finally, fair quantities of ice cream and popsicles were consumed throughout the visit. Jason seemed to have more trouble with his than Madeline, which is why he is the star of this portion of the show:
I’ve been reading a historical fiction/romance series on the Scottish Highlands with a time tavel element, and it’s making me want to visit Scotland, ye ken. It also makes me want to be big, strong, red headed and able to sword fight with both hands. Only one of these is ever likely to happen, which is left as an exercise for the reader. Oh, it also makes me want to be able to drink Scotch like it’s water and Brandy to keep me warm on the cold British winter nights. I’ve already started both those projects and will be sure to fill you in on my progress later.
Meanwhile, school starts in 3 days. Translation: when the kids are away …
